Louisville basketball is taking on Notre Dame this afternoon in what many Cardinals fans believe should be a convincing win. The Cardinals are heavy favorites entering this matchup, as Notre Dame is just 2-7 in ACC play. While the Cardinals are not living up to expectations with a 5-4 conference record, they have a 92.8-percent chance of winning this game according to ESPN Analytics.
Louisville had expectations of competing for its first ACC Title, and while the Cardinals most likely won’t win the regular-season crown, if they want a shot at that ACC Tournament Title, they have to go on a run in this final stretch of games. Louisville is eyeing one of the four double-byes in the ACC Tournament, and while they are in seventh place, they sit in a prime position for a big-time run the next month.
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Louisville basketball has a lot on the line in final 10 games
Louisville fans are quite underwhelmed with the Cardinals' first 21 games, as Louisville is 0-5 against ranked teams, including three losses by double digits. The Cardinals had the second-highest odds to win the ACC entering the season, but now they sit in seventh place in the ACC standings with just a month of basketball left.
However, the Cards are favored by ESPN's Matchup Predictor in all of them, giving fans reason to believe Louisville is poised for a massive run. It won’t be easy, but of the six teams ahead of them, Louisville still has to play four of them. The Cardinals don’t have to worry about that top seed, as Duke likely has that locked up, but if the Cardinals want a double-bye, they have the opportunity to jump teams in the standings.
With Louisville hoping to make a jump up the ACC standings, they get a huge opportunity when they play No. 14 North Carolina and No. 20 Clemson on the road in back-to-back games. If Louisville wants to earn respect and climb up the ACC standings, but also gain a huge resume boost, these two games have massive implications.
North Carolina has the second-hardest schedule in the ACC, and North Carolina State has the third-hardest remaining schedule, suggesting Louisville has a chance to jump the Tar Heels and the Wolfpack. Louisville has the sixth-hardest schedule remaining in the ACC, while Virginia, Clemson, and Miami all have manageable schedules and don’t look too challenging, ranking 68th, 69th, and 77th in the hardest remaining schedules in college basketball.
The Cardinals have to take care of business and beat the teams they are supposed to, such as Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Syracuse, and Baylor. But, if they want to earn that double-bye and get resume boosts before the NCAA Tournament, they must find a way to beat SMU, North Carolina State, and Miami, and split Clemson and North Carolina.
Louisville sits in seventh place, a half game behind the Tar Heels, one game behind Miami, and two games behind Virginia and North Carolina State for the three- and four-seeds. There isn’t a lot of time, and the ACC race is getting closer and closer in the final stretch. If Louisville wants to make a run and earn a double bye, it might simply come down to these head-to-head matchups.